Hello everyone,
I’m working toward a preflight system for Finale that would check the MusicXML exported by Finale before it is imported into Dorico. The aim is to warn users about fatal errors that may cause Dorico to lose musical content, so they can fix the source score before relying on the import.
By “fatal” I don’t necessarily mean that Dorico crashes or refuses to open the file. I mean that the import completes but notes or entire measures are lost. In small, controlled tests with Finale 27.4.1 and Dorico 6.2.30, I have reproduced several such cases:
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An incomplete tuplet timeline caused Dorico to omit a note that was present in the MusicXML.
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Finale’s Fill with Rests produced a rest longer than the remaining space in a tuplet measure; Dorico again lost a note.
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Switching to Voice 2 inside a tuplet led to the third tuplet note becoming a rest in Dorico, with subsequent measures missing.
I’ve also found problems from which Dorico recovers—for example, by adding rests or a hidden time-signature change. I’m treating those as warnings, not fatal errors. The preflight checker needs to make that distinction.
I can create controlled examples, but I cannot anticipate every real-world failure on my own. If you have a MusicXML file that has definitely caused a serious or destructive Dorico import problem, would you be willing to share the file—or just the smallest relevant XML fragment? You can attach it to this thread or contact me privately through a forum message. A short description of what disappeared or changed in Dorico would be especially helpful.
I am not interested in anyone’s private scores for any other purpose. I would use shared material only to identify and catalogue MusicXML error patterns for this preflight system. I would not publish or redistribute anything. If the music is confidential, an anonymised or reduced fragment is entirely welcome.
Thank you in advance.
